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Maritime in the new

Bringing the power and connectivity of “Industry X.0” to the naval shipbuilding industry

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today’s naval shipbuilders must innovate to drive down costs, deal with increasing complexity and deliver new growth. Digital reinvention is their only option for achieving this and the best approach for shipbuilding is Industry X.0—Accenture’s next-generation industrial framework that leverages intelligent systems connected via the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to create a fully digital value chain.

By combining Industry X.0 with an end-to-end view of the shipbuilding lifecycle, from design through to operational service, and from suppliers to navy users, a naval shipbuilder can advance towards becoming the digital leader of the future, and generate a rising stream of value throughout the life of each ship. This value is realized by collaborating with a digitally-connected ecosystem to improve operational efficiency, navy user experiences and ship availability while also developing new services.

To navigate this journey, a shipbuilder must take a practical, systematic approach based around six steps detailed in this paper. Those who take these steps successfully will be positioned to lead the industry as it transitions into the digital era—and to leave others trailing in their wake.

POWERFUL FORCES ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF NAVAL SHIPBUILDING

The naval shipbuilding industry is seeing unprecedented change and disruption, under the impact of trends including rising program costs, expanding international opportunities and rising pressure from government customers seeking value for money.

Together, these trends are creating four imperatives for today’s shipbuilders:

Deliver and secure margin and time-to-market of complex shipbuilding programs

Drive down costs, lead time and quality issues in design, manufacturing and the supply chain

Drive innovation toward the creation of the connected ship and the connected fleet

Develop new services to increase ship availability and effectiveness in operations.

DIGITAL REINVENTION IS THE ONLY OPTION

There is only one way that shipbuilders can rise to all these challenges: by embracing digital reinvention. In Accenture’s view, the way forward is to apply Industry X.0 to power their progress to be the digital leader in the industry. This paper describes how shipbuilders can navigate this journey and create the industry’s digitally-enabled future.

SCOPING OUT THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY

While the concept of the digital shipbuilder has been discussed for several years, many shipbuilders have struggled to grasp what it means. This is now changing, as global players begin to turn the vision into reality.

EMBEDDED BARRIERS TO PROGRESS

Why has the industry’s digital advance been so gradual? For several reasons. Often, enthusiasm for digital technology is undermined by a lack of clarity on the business outcomes and generating funds to invest in digital capability can be challenging. Cultural barriers are a further issue: the industry’s largely traditional manufacturing mindset can conflict with new digitally—enabled ways of working and deter digital talent from joining.

BARRIERS THAT CAN NOW BE OVERCOME

However, all of these barriers can be overcome. Across the industry, preconceptions and ways of working are being challenged by the ready availability of low-cost, commoditized digital products and connectivity. And the impacts of digital are being amplified by advances in big data and analytics, intelligent automation and a more flexible workforce. Together, these trends mean digital reinvention is an increasingly realistic option for shipbuilders worldwide.

CONCLUSION: DIGITAL IN SHIPBUILDING – NOT A MATTER OF "IF", BUT "WHEN"

Advances in digital technologies and the emergence of Industry X.0 herald a new era of opportunity for shipbuilders. However, to succeed amid today’s unprecedented disruptive change, indigenous shipbuilders will need to innovate, reduce costs and grow internationally.

Digital is the way to achieve these goals – by deploying a new generation of capabilities to overcome traditional barriers and transform operational efficiency, growth and user experience. Many A&D companies and commercial

shipbuilders across the world are already on this path. Those who hold back now will face a struggle to catch up in years to come.

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